1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a method, apparatus and computer program product relating to comparing capabilities or resources, such as software technology, of prospective suppliers, and more particularly to automated comparison using network delivery of surveys.
2. Related Art
In today's marketplace there are a multitude of divergent implementations of similar technologies. Particularly with regard to software technology, development and availability of international and industry standards lag far behind in satisfying the need for common technology implementations. Organizations (“evaluators”) seeking suppliers of technology such as software face a daunting task when they undertake to identify suppliers who currently share similar technology implementations and strategies with the evaluator or one another, or are at least willing to adopt a future technology road map or strategic direction in common with that of the evaluator. Consequently there is a need for a highly organized and automated way to collect technology information from suppliers and efficiently evaluate the information, such as by comparison to the evaluator's own technology requirements.